Democratizing Access to Mental Health Care: 2024 Achievements

In 2024, StrongMinds overwhelmingly exceeded its goals, treating 426,642 clients for depression—a 78% increase over 2023. This brings our total impact to nearly 900,000 people reached since 2014, with 773,000 treated in just the past three years. Beyond direct treatment, we psychoeducated 601,731 people, bringing our total to 1.44 million individuals equipped with knowledge about mental health and depression. At the same time, we drove down our cost-per-person to just $23, well below our $30 target—proving that scaling up can go hand in hand with cost efficiency.

Deepening Existing Government Partnerships

This record-breaking growth was powered by expanding collaborations with governments in Uganda and Zambia. In 2024 alone, 233,185 clients received treatment through government partnerships, supported by more than 1,700 government-paid volunteer therapy group facilitators.

In Uganda, our partnership with the Governmental Inter-Ministerial Committee launched the firstever model district in Masaka, training volunteers from the Ministries of Health and Education in the StrongMinds therapy model. Following this success, we are gearing up to expand into Buikwe, Bushenyi, and Masaka City in 2025. Our work with the Ministry of Education and UNESCO led to the creation of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) guidelines for schools and the training of 60 MHPSS Trainers to support Mental Health Hours in schools. Today, 267 schools across Uganda have integrated Mental Health Hours, embedding mental wellness into the education system.

In Zambia, we expanded our Ministry of Health collaboration, scaling from three to nine health facilities in Central Province. The program’s success led the Ministry to request an expansion into a new province. Meanwhile, our work with the Ministry of Education resulted in therapy programs launching in nine additional schools—bringing mental health support to thousands of students.

Seeding New Gov’t Partnerships

Our global partnership program exceeded its target by nearly 100%, reaching 33,000 people across Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Nigeria.

Two years of successful NGO collaborations in Kenya have laid the groundwork for new partnerships with Mombasa County and Nairobi City County Governments. This “seeding” approach—using NGO collaborations to open doors for government partnerships—has proven to be a powerful catalyst for sustainable, government-led expansion.

In Malawi, we launched a partnership with the Ministry of Health, reaching 4,000 people, and secured an agreement to expand into Nigeria in 2025—further advancing our mission to integrate mental health care into health systems across Africa.